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Then line it with the strainer cloth. As it clogs up, you can pull it to one side, put another piece of cloth in, and pour a new batch of honey into the clean cloth while the other drains. Then rinse them out and reuse. makes cleanup a breeze, and speeds up straining.
Regards,
Steven

"If all you have is a hammer, the whole world is a nail." - A.H. Maslow

You mite like this Idea I came up with. get 2 extra 5 gal buckets and cut the buckets 1 inch below the bottom rib. then make cuts every 3 inches around the bucket half. it will slip into the strainer then you just set it ontop of the next strainer. that way you use all three strainers at once without having to pour into a new bucket. here are a few photos to show you how I do it.

Before I do something potentially dumb.....
Does anyone see why I couldn't use a cone-filter made of 100% cotton muslin cloth (in a SS chain-type cone holder like is used for filtering "fry oil" in the fast food industry) to filter my honey?

I'm thinking of something similar to this, but with the paper filter replaced with one made of reusable cotton-muslin cloth:

Robherc... Your setup should work but keep in mind that the finer the filter the more that will be removed from the honey, If you go to fine with the filter you will end up removing alot of pollen and thats what makes local honey so special not to mention the finer the filter the slower the honey drains through

An inexpensive way to filter is to use 5 gallon paint strainers. I use one of those, then I use the superfine filter cloth sold by the Commercial Bee Companies. I sew them just like the paint strainers, or, you can purchase them from Walter Kelly Company.

The paint strainers catch the larger pieces of wax etc, goes through very quickly, then the super fine filters completes the job without clogging up. Rinse and wash and use over and over.

Robherc... Your setup should work but keep in mind that the finer the filter the more that will be removed from the honey, If you go to fine with the filter you will end up removing alot of pollen...

Is broadcloth going to be too fine a filter? It's a looser weave than any paper filter I've ever seen, so I was hoping it'd be "open" enough to let the pollen through; just not any bit of wax/bee/etc.?

Here's a pic of the cloth I'm talking about, held in front of my computer screen to show texture of the weave better...thoughts?
(the attachment is as close as I can get to "Actual size"...on my monitor at least, and if you click on it you can see a 100% crop..aka magnified greatly)

i like your idea. where did u get the straingers and how did u cut the bucket?

I got the five gal kit with the strainers from mann lake. on the blue buckets cut 1 inch below the rasied line that has the handle attached. then cut every 3 inches around the bottom to help let it slid into the top of the fine and med strainers. dill a 3/8 hole at the top raised support to help with air flow .

I got the five gal kit with the strainers from mann lake. on the blue buckets cut 1 inch below the rasied line that has the handle attached. then cut every 3 inches around the bottom to help let it slid into the top of the fine and med strainers. dill a 3/8 hole at the top raised support to help with air flow .

john

Hi John,
Your idea really makes sense. As newbies here, my hub and I are trying to gain as much info as possible so as not to make costly errors. Would you provide links for your specific filters. Any and all info would be appreciated.. Thanks kindly, Lora

Bsweet said "If you go to fine with the filter you will end up removing alot of pollen and thats what makes local honey so special not to mention the finer the filter the slower the honey drains through."

I stack all three plastic filters with the 600 micron on top, the 400 micron next and the 200 micron on the bottom. They are stacked one on top of each other, touching each other. I have very little trouble being slow if the honey is warm.

And if the 200 micron filter would take ANY pollen out, it would be in the filter when you are through and I never find find pollen (or anything of any substance, for that matter) in the 200 micron filter. The 600 micron filter catches most of the solid items, but I use all three because I like my honey to be very clean and clear.

And if the 200 micron filter would take ANY pollen out, it would be in the filter when you are through and I never find find pollen (or anything of any substance, for that matter) in the 200 micron filter.
Fuzzybeekeeper[/QUOTE]

So isn't the real question: what is the size in microns of various pollen grains? Are there any (or many) larger than 200 microns in diameter? I'm sure this data is available but I did not find it in my first search.

From wikipedia:
Pollen grains come in a wide variety of shapes (most often spherical), sizes, and surface markings characteristic of the species (see electron micrograph, right). Pollen grains of pines, firs, and spruces are winged. The smallest pollen grain, that of the forget-me-not (Myosotis spp.), is around 6 µm (0.006 mm) in diameter. Wind-borne pollen grains can be as large as about 90–100 µm.[2]

I think the key word there was "Wind-borne". That said, I don't know the answer. I wouldn't be surprised to find the bees hauling home things significantly bigger though. I did run across a report indicating pumpkins had pollen in the 200-300 size. As we all know, there are a number of plants pollinated almost solely by bees. I would hazard that some of these are because the pollen is to large to rely on the wind.

I usually us 400 micron Mann Lake bucket filter and it works fine. Tried to use the 200 fine bucket filter, not so good. I put about 1/2 gallon of filtered honey from my crush and strain bucket, and it just sat there. I placed the bucket with the honey in the hot Florida July sun covered with a lid and brick for about 3 hours and a tablespoon filtered through. I'll stick with 400 micron. Unless you can heat the honey.